Intuition

✪ Ebb and Flow [Empathy]

The character is so aware of the social currents in a situation that he is able to see something of what’s coming before it arrives. At the beginning of any social exchange, before proceeding with the usual initiative order, the character may spend a fate point and attempt a quick read – looking for surface moods and other social cues – on any one target of his choosing, as a free action. He may then act normally on his turn as usual.

✪ Preemptive Grace [Empathy]

Requires Ebb and Flow

You are so tuned into social situations that you may act quickly and decisively to shape the situation to your liking. Empathy is used to determine initiative in a social conflict, the same way Alertness is used in a physical one. With this stunt, your Empathy is considered two higher for the purposes of initiative. If you’re tied for initiative with someone who does not have this stunt, this stunt breaks ties.

✪ Track the Soul [Empathy]

Your understanding of people you’ve met is sufficiently strong that it gives you an easy sense of how to find them. In any situation where you’re tracking down or otherwise trying to find someone you’ve met before, you may roll Empathy instead of Investigation.

✪ The Skeptic’s Ear [Empathy]

Requires at least one other Empathy stunt

The world is full of lies and liars, and your character is always on the lookout for them. The character always knows when someone is using the Deceit skill on him, and may take full defensive actions (getting a +2) with his Empathy if appropriate.
Normally, the use of deception is not so easy to spot in advance, and thus justifying full defensive actions is difficult. Successfully determining that something is trying to deceive you is not the same as revealing the truth, however, no matter how well you do.

Insight

✪ Cold Read [Empathy]

Normally, to use empathy to get a read on someone it requires at least a few minutes of conversation, if not more (see Reading People). Characters with this stunt may do so after much less time – two or three steps faster on the time table (see page XX).

✪ Heart’s Secret [Empathy]

You have an instinct for going right to the heart of a person and finding out what matters most to them. Whenever you make a successful Empathy read on someone (see Reading People), the GM must select from the aspects that are of the utmost importance to the character, unless you explicitly instruct her otherwise. Normally, the GM has a freer rein in her selection.
While this still can’t get you to trip over anything that’s truly still a secret to you (this isn’t an instant mystery solving stunt!), it should at least put you as close to the core truth about a character.

✪ Hit Them Where It Hurts [Empathy]

Your skill at reading people makes you adept at provoking a strong emotional response if you’re trying to get them angry, depressed, or something similar. Normally, the Intimidation skill would be used for such efforts; however, if you’ve succeeded at any Empathy roll against the target previously, you may use Empathy to wage such psychological warfare instead. In the hands of a character with high Empathy, this is especially lethal when combined with a successful read on someone that reveals an aspect.

✪ A Peek Inside [Empathy]

Requires at least two other Empathy stunts

Once you get an insight into someone, you may try to look much deeper than one normally can. Trying to learn something specific and concrete about another person can be a lot like trying to catch a specific raindrop – you can be sure you got wet, but figuring out if you actually got the one you were going after is another matter. In the best case scenario, you’ve revealed one of the target’s aspects.
With this stunt, however, you achieve such a strong understanding of your subject that you can start to make some fairly accurate guesses about his behavior.
After you have successfully gotten a “read” as described in the Empathy write-up (see Reading People), you may immediately ask the GM a hypothetical question about the target’s motives, which the GM must be able to answer with yes, no, or maybe, to the best of her ability. The question must speak to the kind of person the target is, not things they’ve done, though it may ask if they are capable of doing such things. If the GM answers with a maybe, you may ask a second question to get clarification. This second question may seek details, rather than another one-word answer.